


Chapter 1: Persephone

by BadgersQueen



Series: Firefly: Pleasurable Business [1]
Category: Firefly
Genre: F/M, First Meetings, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-18
Updated: 2014-08-18
Packaged: 2018-02-13 17:54:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2159754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BadgersQueen/pseuds/BadgersQueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Meredith and the ship she travels with arrives on Persephone for a little rest and relaxation after a three month journey lag in between jobs. And she meets an unlikely ally....</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chapter 1: Persephone

**Author's Note:**

> My first "Firefly" based fan-fic that centers around how Meredith & Badger end up meeting, etc. 
> 
> Meredith is my OC & belongs to me.
> 
> Badger & all things Firefly don't belong to me.

"We'll be arriving in about twenty minutes. Careful everyone, entering the atmosphere can be a bit bumpy", the pilot spoke over his small headset, holding an old radio phone to his mouth, he chuckled, "You all know what happened last time", and then placing it back onto the dashboard.

Down towards the back of the ship, one of the passengers knocked on one of the quarter's doors and waited for it slid open. The man smiled at the redhead who looked a bit annoyed as she was in the middle of packing a small belt with various little pockets. He just stood there, arms folded. 

"We're only going to be here a couple of days", he pointed out. 

"Ranger, don't you have a co-pilot job you're supposed to be doing?" Meredith wanted to know, slipping the belt around her waist and making sure it fit comfortably. The pockets each held a small amount of money, first aid, a knife, some trail mix she liked to snack on. The belt just below that one held her gun. 

Ranger chuckled and walked over to her, "You've been riding along with us for about eighteen months now. And I'm happy Mal asked me to keep an eye on you"- 

She gave him a side long head tilt, "You have your job and I've got mine. I know the drill. You don't have to babysit me". She took out her gun and decided to clean it and make sure it had enough ammo. The gun was an old western woman's pistol with a nice leather handle. "And stop staring at my backside", she added in warning throwing him another look, "There are other women on this ship than just me".

"I heard stories you even turned down Malcom", Ranger pointed out, chuckling and being stupid enough to touch her shoulders, "What's a man gotta do to make you just rela-"

Meredith bit her lip and kneed him in the groin. He doubled over in pain, face going beat red as he backed away from her, protecting himself from being hit again. She grabbed him by the shoulders and shoved them out her room door, making him hit the corridor wall. Ranger fell over onto the floor, curling up into the fetal position. He was found by their medic, Carl a few minutes later. 

"Boy, she gave you hell huh?" Carl asked, glancing between the door and their co-pilot.

Carl went to get his assistant, Susan, and they carried Ranger into the medic ward so he could lay down. Susan pointed out that he should have known better than try to flirt with Meredith. The redhead had a reputation for playing hard to get and rebuffing advances of any kind. The atmosphere on the vessel calmed down and Ranger returned to the cock pit with their pilot, Pete. Pete chuckled at seeing his best friend having to hold an ice pack to his groin. The ship was a multiple tradesmen and business class ship, most of the crew worked in various fields from smuggling to trading weaponry or food for other goods. They did little jobs in between runs. And this weeks pit stop was Persephone. A little R&R was needed after a two month lag. Meredith sat in her room, sitting on the edge of her bed and running a thumb over a picture of her and her parents. She was about three in this picture. The only thing she had as a personal possession. She must have stared at it a million times in between journey's. The photo was black and white and was wrinkled from being folded a million times. She felt the ship entering the atmosphere and held onto something as it jolted and bumped. After fifteen or so minutes, they were finally docking outside of town. She folded the faded photo and placed it into her vest pocket before getting up. 

Some of the guys were unloading crates from the cargo hold as they were doing business here this afternoon. Meredith just walked past everyone and stepped off the ship. Thousands of other ships, big and small, were around them and there were a million others just like them. She didn't hear Pete or Carl calling to her to wait for them. Pete ducked off after her, rifle swinging around his shoulder. She stopped when she heard someone following her. 

"Mere, jesus, are you really going to go into town by yourself?" He asked, breathlessly, having run about thirty feet.

"Why not? I can take care of myself", She told him, "Look, just stay here, okay? I'm just going to find something to eat and see if I can drum up any business".

Pete sighed, "What I'm gonna tell Mal if he tries contacting us and we can't reach you?"

"Tell him whatever the hell you want", Meredith responded, laughing slightly, walking backwards and thumbing behind her, "I'm going into town".

Pete couldn't find anything to say to try and stop her and decided to let her make her own decisions. He was probably one of the few friends she had that didn't treat her like a child. She did what she wanted and nobody asked questions. He just scratched the back of his head and went back to their ship to help. No doubt get talked to for letting her go on her own. Meredith didn't care though. She was used to moving around on her own. She joined other groups going into town to sell or to buy. And Persephone was packed plenty. She just confidently walked into town, making no eye contact with anyone. The sky was open and very pretty here and the sun was nice to the touch. Her red curls danced around her neck and shoulders. She kept her hands inside her vest pockets, meandering around and stopping here and there. Every time she saw a small child, she stopped to stoop down and give them one of her coins, smiling as they hugged her. She never bought anything for herself. Food if she wanted it, sometimes. She never thought of herself either. Children and their families came first. Always.

 

The redhead had lost track of time as she found herself somewhere in the middle of town about a couple of hours later. Luckily she was good with direction and good with figuring out how to get back but at the moment she couldn't help but continue looking around a bit longer. Her feet were killing her with all this walking however and she turned a corner and heard a good amount of shouting and shuffling chairs coming from a building off to her left. Meredith frowned slightly as she noticed a ton of tough looking men with guns standing outside, like body guards. She sucked her tongue, knowing not to get involved but her brain was working a bit quickly and she did the stupidest thing she could possibly think of. Going around back, she found an open window and climbed up onto an empty crate. It was a bathroom and it was empty. She hoisted herself through the window and, quietly and very carefully, lowered herself inside. Noting the outhouse looking toilet and the iron tub, she walked towards the bathroom door and peeked through the doorway. The hallway outside was empty too and she could hear raised voices of argument. A business deal of some sort. And they were all men, it sounded like, which would mean if a fight broke out, there'd be blood shed.

Meredith closed her eyes and counted to three and then grabbed the door knob and slipped out into the hallway. It was dark back here, very little light. Like a foxes den. She quietly walked down the hallway, pulling out her gun and checking it. Ammo loaded and ready. She cocked it and kept it lowered. The voices were continuing their squabbles and possible accusing arguments. Her heart raced as she tried to figure out what her plan of action was going to be and then wondered what she was even doing. One minute she'd been enjoying her tour of Persephone, the next minute she was deciding to be completely reckless. No time to back out now. The doorway at the end of the hallway was pushed open as dead body fell to the floor and Meredith flinched back. Everything happened in slow motion in the next five minutes as another man came into her line of view, being pushed against the wall by someone stronger then him. The man against the wall was wearing a bowler hat and was wearing a coat and waist coat. The redhead took this moment to raise her gun to the man's temple that was holding him to the wall. 

"Leave him alone", Meredith told him, wondering why she wasn't dead yet but not questioning logic.

"Badger, I didn't know you had company", the man grinned, eyeing the redhead with a lud stare.

The man in the bowler hat, Badger, looked horrifically confused but also relieved and not sure why. His brown eyes looked at the redhead, wondering how on earth she had gotten in his den without notice and yet thanking god she'd shown up regardless. He'd just have to interrogate her later but his mind wasn't thinking about that now. It was more or less wondering how to come out of this alive. 

"Take her gun and hold her down", the other man ordered his men.

Before anyone could move, Badger brought up his leg, in the three second window this man hadn't focused on him, and kneed him in the stomach. Slipping out of this man's grasp as the other doubled over, Badger ran and grabbed Meredith's wrist, pulling her with him and pushing her behind him. He was breathing heavily through his nose, looking less than pleased. He pushed her towards his desk that was in the middle of the main room and pointed a finger at the man who had dared to assault him in his own place of business. 

"Nobody touches this woman", Badger stated, "And you mate, made a horrible choice by attacking me", he made a face that made a few others step back and then made a hand gesture to his own men.

Badger's minions stepped forward and dragged the assaulting man out of the den. A gun shot was heard a second later, making the whole room flinch. Badger waved his hand, clearing the room and ending the meeting he'd been in. His minions then dragged out the other dead body that lay in the entrance to the hallway. Meredith breathed slowly and put her gun back into it's holster. After a few seconds, Badger asked his men to leave and he turned to her. 

"Sorry about that. Business is business and I don't like being told what to do", Badger smiled and then eyed her curiously, "And what exactly are you doing here?" He wanted to know. 

"Passing by. Leaving", Meredith told him, flushing slightly and moved to walk past him.

Badger smirked and moved in the same step as her, cutting her off, "Not so fast, love. You're in my den without my permission but seeing as you saved my life, can't really complain can I?"

Meredith smiled politely, "Sorry. Saw the men outside packing and heard enormous amount of arguing. Thought maybe if I didn't do anything, someone might end up dead. Though, never really pictured myself climbing through someone's bathroom window to come to their rescue before", she paused, "Your welcome, by the way".

"Had a little disagreement but nothing too substantial", Badger told her, though his face flushed a bit but he tried hard to hide it, "Do you come with a name or are you going to make me guess?" He teased.

"Meredith", She nodded, laughing slightly.

He held out his hand to her, "Badger", he stated, "Welcome to Persephone", he quirked an eyebrow, "Apologies if this is your first time here".

Meredith just shook her head, "No need to apologize. I've be on planet a couple of hours. You're just the first person I've had the pleasure of stopping by to talk to", she paused, "Or in this case, having the pleasure of meeting".

"Oh?" Badger grinned at her. 

She sneakily reached out and pinched his hat. And he made no effort to retrieve it, his face falling into shock, confusion and surprise as he watched her place it on her head. Meredith smiled at herself, wondering what had gotten into her all of a sudden to even risk doing that. "I have to get going or my crew members might start looking for me", she told him, walking around his desk and heading towards the exit, she turned around and looked over her shoulder at him. "I'll be in town tomorrow. It was nice meeting you, Badger".

He still didn't move to get his hat back or call his minions to retrieve it for him either. He wondered what'd happened in the span of thirty or so seconds. He just stared after her. once Meredith was gone, his hat in tow, Badger finally snapped out of it and called to his men. "I want to know who she is. Anything you can dig up", he told one of his men. He was intrigued and curious. Also confused as to why he'd just let her waltz out of there. He sighed and slumped back into his chair. It was now bugging him to know about her. And all he had was a name to go by. 

 

Meredith walked back to the ship, hurrying to get out of line of sight just in case those thugs Badger had been doing business with caught sight of her. She played with the bowler hat in her hands and ducked back to her room after reaching the ship. She didn't want anyone asking her where she'd been the last few hours or why she was out of breath and looking flushed. She kept hunching her shoulders and staring down at her feet every time she imagined his brown eyes looking at her. She smacked her tongue to the roof of her mouth and examined the hat in her hands. Why had she taken his hat?! What was she thinking?! Her brain felt weighed down. Why had she even gotten involved in that little fight back there? She'd been lucky she hadn't gotten killed. First day on an unknown planet for a little rest and relaxation and she was climbing through bathroom windows playing heroine for a man she didn't even know. 

Except now she had a name.

Her eyebrows furrowed as she stared at nothing in particular and then got up. She tucked the hat under her pillow so nobody would find it and left her room. She went down to Jean's room. Jean was a french violinist and dealt with foreign exchanges such as money and smuggling. He was also a hacker and had little birdies everywhere that told him information, even the vaguest. Jean smiled as she came into his room and offered her a cup of tea but she waved him off. He was one of the few on board the ship that didn't want to get into her pants and she thanked god he was dating Pete. 

"What eez it that you need madame?" He asked.

"I need you to look up someone. Maybe one of your guys has talked to him", Meredith whispered softly.

"And who eez it that you're looking for?" He set up his connections radio and picked up the phone before dialing. 

"A man named Badger. I need to know what kind of business he does and who he is", She nodded, trying to hide the fact she felt herself blushing.

Jean nodded but then frowned, in middle dial, "Badger? You're kidding, right?" He hung up the phone, "Meredith, I can not-"

"I'll give your guys a discount on the medicine I bring to their families", Meredith held up her hands, "You just gotta trust me and do me this one favor. Please", she put her hands together in a pleading manner.

Jean licked his lips and shook his head, his accent getting thicker as he spoke, "I'm only doing zis because you're a friend. But promise me, you will not do anything stupid".

"Promise", Meredith nodded in reassurance. She couldn't bring herself to mention she'd done something stupid already. All she needed was Malcom and Zoe hearing that she had done something idiotic and then her friends would be in trouble for it. 

After Jean got the information from one of his moles that worked with Badger, Meredith went back to her room and took out the hat from under her pillow, fiddling with it in her fingers. She took a deep breath. Staring at it. She hadn't had any kind of business associates before and thought maybe it would be nice to do something like that for once. It was a great opportunity, right? Have some sort of connections. She closed her eyes and laid back on her bed, the hat next to her. Going over and over the events of earlier. Her climbing through the bathroom window and deciding to go in gong-ho with her firearm. She could have been shot or killed or worse. Opening her eyes, she stared up at the ceiling. After a while, she went outside and climbed the ladder up to the top of the ship. Sitting on the roof. Eyes closed and letting the later afternoon breeze and Persephone's warm weather brush through her curls. She decided she'd go into town tomorrow and find Badger again and set up a time to meet and do business. 

What she was getting herself into, she had no idea. But the excitement she felt growing in the pit of her stomach seemed well worth it.


End file.
